The 2021–22 Lebanese Premier League was the 60th season of the
Lebanese Premier League
The Lebanese First Division (), commonly known as the Lebanese Premier League (), is the top division of the Lebanese football league system. Established in 1934 and organized by the Lebanese Football Association (LFA), the Lebanese Premier Leagu ...
, the top Lebanese league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1934. The league started on 11 September 2021 and ended on 4 June 2022.
It was the second season to feature a "split" format, following its introduction in the
2020–21 season, in which the season was divided into two phases. Ahed won their eighth league title undefeated. Defending champions
Ansar, who won their 14th title in 2020–21, finished second.
Sporting, who were newly promoted, and
Shabab Bourj, who withdrew from the league, were relegated to the
Lebanese Second Division.
Summary
Regulations
Each club had to involve one player under the age of 22 for at least 600 minutes, two players for at least 800 combined minutes, and three players for at least 1,200 combined minutes.
Also, each club was allowed a maximum of eight players over the age of 30, with only five being able to be fielded in a game.
In case a club was to not meet the required number of minutes at the end of the season, they would have three points deducted from their total in the league.
Due to the
economic situation in Lebanon, no foreign players were allowed to play in the league in the first half of the season.
In the second half, teams were allowed to contract one foreign player, for the first time since October 2019.
Format
Following its introduction in the
2020–21 season, the 2021–22 season consisted of two phases: in the first phase, each team played against one another once.
In the second phase, the 12 teams were divided into two groups based on their position in the first phase; the teams carried over their point tally from the first phase.
After the first phase was completed, clubs could not move out of their own half in the league, even if they achieved more or fewer points than a higher or lower ranked team, respectively.
The top six teams played against each other twice, as opposed to the previous season where they played each other once;
the champion automatically qualified to the
2023–24 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs—assuming they met the criteria set by the
Asian Football Confederation
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) is the governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal in most countries and territories in Asia. The AFC was formed in 1954. It has 47 members. The Asian Ladies Football Confederation ( ...
(AFC). The runners-up instead directly qualified to the
2023–24 AFC Cup group stage—as long as the champions met the AFC criteria for the AFC Champions League.
The bottom six teams also played against each other twice, with the bottom two teams being relegated to the
Lebanese Second Division.
Events
Following
Nejmeh's refusal to play
Ahed on 9 January 2022, the
Lebanese Football Association
The Lebanese Football Association (LFA; ; ) is the governing body of association football in Lebanon. Formed in 1933, it is a member of both FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation, AFC. It is also one of the founding members of the West Asian ...
(LFA) decided to assign a 3–0
walkover
John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest.
A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...
win to Ahed, deducted 6 points from Nejmeh, and fined them
£L10 million.
Nejmeh's decision not to play came as a form of protest against the refereeing in their game against
Tadamon Sour one week prior.
Following
Shabab Bourj's failure to comply to
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
's request for them to compensate former player
Lorougnon Christ Remi, and rumours of a merger with
Safa, the club withdrew from the league. On 30 May 2022, the LFA announced that Shabab Bourj were fined £L12.5 million, were relegated to the Second Division, and that all of their matches in the championship round were voided.
Teams
Twelve teams competed in the league – the top ten teams from the
2020–21 Lebanese Premier League season and the two teams promoted from the
Lebanese Second Division.
Stadiums and locations
:''Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.''
Foreign players
Lebanese clubs were allowed to contract a foreign player for the second half of the season.
League table
Season statistics
Scoring
Top goalscorers
Hat-tricks
;Notes
4 Player scored 4 goals
Clean sheets
Notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Lebanese Premier League
Lebanese Premier League seasons
Lebanon
Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...
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